Endurance 20
Dissuading Pesky Sea Lions
California sea-lions haul out on Endurance Array shelf buoys during the day. These buoys ride higher at night, which corresponds to when the sea-lions leave to feed. Aluminum guards keep the sea-lions off the solar panels and prevent sea-lions from chewing wires and connectors. The team sprayed off biofouling after getting the buoy on board.
Read MoreCoastal Piercing Profiler Deployment
A Coastal Surface Piercing Profiler is headed overboard. In the background is the Oregon Inshore Surface Mooring 150 meters away. They are deployed near each other so the Endurance 20 team can command the profiler while it is underwater. There is a cellular connection with the surface mooring. The mooring and the profiler each have…
Read MoreUNOLS Volunteers Leg 2
On this cruise leg, the two UNOLS Cruise Volunteers who joined the Endurance 20 team are graduate students Malik Jordan and Ellery Ohlwiler. Here they are guiding stretch hose into the ocean behind a buoy. Behind them is the MultiFunction Node of this mooring, which includes its anchor.
Read MoreSediment Traps Day
The Endurance 20 team’s main effort today was to turn a sediment trap mooring. The project is led by professors Jennifer Fehrenbacher (Oregon State University) and Claudia Benitez-Nelson (University of South Carolina). Their team is collecting foraminifera, single-celled plankton, and they are using OOI data to interpret their samples. On the ship with the team…
Read MoreNew Instrument Testing
In addition to the baseline instruments the Endurance Team deploys on each cruise, this Near Surface Instrument Frame has two test instruments. They deploy them adjacent baseline instruments for comparison to evaluate potential technical improvements OOI could make. The test instruments measure pH, pCO2, conductivity, and temperature, which together are used to characterize ocean acidification.
Read MoreBack in Port
The R/V Sikuliaq’s starboard crane is lifting the bases of the Endurance 20 moorings onto the ship. The bases of the moorings, Multi-Function Nodes, house anchors and instruments. They are different colors because the one that will be deployed in shallow water has blue antifouling paint. At approximately 11,000 lbs., MFNs are the heaviest items…
Read MoreFriendship Bracelets
Athena, one of the undergraduate students who refurbishes and assembles the Endurance 20 moorings in Corvallis, made “EA TWENTY” bracelets to commemorate the 20th Endurance Array research cruise. Credit: Jon Fram, OSU.
Read MoreWeather Not Cooperating
The Endurance 20 team was not able to accomplish what they had planned for today (April 5, 2024) because seas were too rough. They pegged one of the ship’s clinometers while assessing conditions outside of the Newport jetties. See bubble in the upper right past 20 degrees.
Read MoreWinches and Cranes Galore
Working smarter, not harder. A picture of many heavy objects being moved without anyone carrying anything by hand aboard the R/V Sikuliaq during the Endurance 20 expedition. Note the bear tracks on the roof in recognition of Oregon State University’s mascot, “Benny the Bear.”
Read MoreUNOLS Volunteers Pitch In
The Endurance 20 team includes two UNOLS Cruise Volunteers on each leg. These volunteers are graduate students looking for opportunities to go to sea. On this leg, Marlena Penn and Cassia Cai joined the Endurance 20 team aboard the R/V Sikuliaq.
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